Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Members will recall that earlier in this session, I reported on the joint federal/provincial/territorial meetings of Ministers responsible for Labour Market and Social Services and the agenda for income security reform.
Since the Ministers' meetings, officials have been working to develop principles and criteria that would be used to guide investment in the $800 million strategic initiatives fund. The fund, established in the recent federal budget, is to provide for cost-shared demonstration projects whose design, delivery and outcomes can be considered in the redesign of the income security net in this country. It is our government's intention to gain approval under this program for the investing in people initiative, which was presented earlier to the Standing Committee on Finance.
Our initiative would see up to seven pilot projects being undertaken and the provision of over 200 additional adult training seats to our current activity levels. Subsequent work activity projects would allow people to combine academic and on-the-job training as they prepare for the labour market or further post-secondary training. The proposal calls for a joint federal/territorial investment of some $6 million over two years. The GNWT share of the resources will come from re-profiled funds from the departments of Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment.
Madam Speaker, I believe we must be both aggressive and progressive in order to participate in the national agenda of change. We cannot afford to have changes imposed upon us and overlook our unique social, cultural and economic needs. We need to make a meaningful contribution to this reform, but we will have to try some new approaches, so that we can benefit from some practical experience in larger scale employment development.
To ensure that we are on the leading edge of change, I am advising this Assembly that our government will establish, on April 11, an income security reform task group. The group will be headed by Mr. Conrad Pilon, the assistant deputy minister.
Madam Speaker, I again return to my earlier statement to inform the House that the Honourable Rebecca Mike, Minister of Social Services, and I have again been invited to meet our counterparts in Ottawa on April 17 and 19 to review the federal government's action plan. The action plan will lay out, in detail, the scope of the income security reform review and its program and fiscal principles and its objectives. The federal government has announced that its fiscal objective for 1996-97 is to reduce expenditures in the Canada assistance plan by some $1.5 billion from its projected 1994-95 expenditures levels.
Madam Speaker, it has also been a joint objective of the departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Social Services to release a discussion paper on the entire matter of income security reform. Due to the very dynamic nature of the national agenda and the continuing work on the scope of the reform, we have delayed the release of the paper until sometime after the mid-April ministerial consultation. Our paper can then be more comprehensive and match more closely the federal plans for consultations and activity over the summer months.
I will correspond with all Members later this spring and provide them with the discussion paper along with a proposed plan for consultations with respect to the reform initiative. I would expect to review progress and major policy issues in this Assembly in the fall session. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
---Applause